


Mob Mentality

by KittysMuse



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Zombie Apocalypse, more tags and characters will be added later along with relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-02
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2017-11-20 01:52:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/579992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittysMuse/pseuds/KittysMuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All of the players--dead or not--have been able to defeat the overpowered Lord English and recreate an Earth that they can reside upon peacefully. Unfortunately, the Seer of Light is able to tell that this will not remain the case for long and that their time left alone in peace is limited...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is the prologue to a Zombiestuck work, incorporating most of the cast of Homestuck thus far. Therefore, the point of view will end up switching often, with Rose Lalonde starting our story off. I'm not going to say anything about it at the moment that would end up being an outright spoiler, but if you are not a fan of stories that do not end up completely happy then this may not be a work for you. The chapters will probably end up usually on the shorter side, but this also means that I'll be able to post them a bit faster than I normally can. That said, feel free to leave questions and suggestions for me and I will hopefully post these chapters at a decent pace and, lastly, enjoy!

As a seer, I have seen many things that have affected me and my companions throughout this long journey. Despite having returned to a world seemingly restored to its previous state besides a few exceptions--namely the retention of our god tier abilities and a society now meshed with another species of a strong familiarity to the players--I soon started having visions of impending difficulties. I made sure to caution the others, but due to a combination of a naive Heir of Breath and an infuriating Thief of Light they were mostly ignored in favor of enjoying a new life on Earth. Fortunately, these premonitions did not lead to any immediate danger, so for a while we were all able to enjoy ourselves and the return of our guardians and their alternate selves into our lives.

  
Unfortunately, this sense of safety did not last long and my visions were proven true. Most of us were taken by surprise, but thankfully most escaped harm. However, our guardians did not as they attempted to protect us once again but failed to save themselves. This quickly sobered up our group to the task at hand as we were forced to aid them in passing away before the infection spread completely throughout their bodies. Their alpha counterparts offered their aid in the matter, but our group of friends felt that it was our duty and responsibility to make sure that they were well taken care of in that regard. John and Dave were perhaps the worst affected, as Jade was much closer to Becquerel and myself... well, I was never close with my mother.

  
The trolls believe it is somehow their fault, as several of them lived near areas infested with the undead on their previous planet. However, I and surprisingly Kankri Vantas have been able to reassure them through the uses of our abilities that this was most certainly not the case. The pre-scratch troll seems to have gotten past his judgemental attitude at last due to this event and has dedicated himself to helping the entirety of our group, and has somehow activated his seer abilities when they were dormant before. Perhaps this is due to the empathetic nature of the Blood aspect or the presence of his descendant-ancestor. Either way, he has become a key support figure of the group, and though many of his fellow teammates are still wary of the change several familiar with the troll figure "The Signless" believe it to be a awakening of that personality and so have started to rely on him as a sort of personal reassurance.

  
The rest have turned once again to Karkat Vantas and John Egbert, with the post-scratch humans also looking to Dirk Strider. The three have become the main forces in the organization of our survival and the saving of as many innocent lives as possible. Unfortunately, it's much harder for us to act against what is essentially a virus than a huge ultimate boss, especially when we ourselves are prone to infection. And so, we end up split up into different operating groups, struggling to deal with not only our own issues but possibly the (second) apocalypse of the world, with only the guidance of myself with a limited range of sight, two trolls with an inherant understanding of the involvement the pathogen has with the blood of its victims, and a third seer who is forced to rely on others to help protect her when the smell of decaying flesh becomes too much. The things we do know for a fact also indicate that we may not live for long as ourselves, as the infection becomes global and the tensions between the members of the survivors of a game that destroyed the world with meteors began to feel that they are losing themselves and their sanity.

  
My name is Rose Lalonde, and I have seen my imminent death at the hands of a zombie horde.


	2. Chapter 1: First Log

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose Lalonde takes the time to write her first personal log, detailing some of the events that have occurred so far in her group.

Log of Rose Lalonde  
2012/08/02 @ 6:14:48 EDT  
I have decided to create a log, in the hopes that if we survive this event as a species--or even not, and another occupies our planet--that someone will find this record of events and will take heed of what will perhaps lead to the extinction of humankind. It will also serve as a means to keep track of past events and threads of thought for my personal use and the aid of all.

Today is the twelfth day since we have had to leave our homes due to a rather large horde of the undead. Myself and the other godtiers--I will not delve into that explanation at the moment due to time constraints, so you will have to bear with me--were able to fly away, but due to the large number still grounded we only narrowly managed to bring everyone to safety. Since then, our party of twenty four Alternian/Beforian trolls and eight humans, including one omniscient canine-like creature, have divided into three primary groups in hopes that smaller numbers traveling at once will attract less attention. The few visions I have received have suggested that this route was our best at the moment for future success, and so now each group numbers at only 10 or 11 individuals. 

I am honestly unsure how we decided on splitting the groups. I have been placed into the group headed by John and with Dave, but Jade requested to go with the alpha kids supposedly because Bec became attached to Jake and she would never leave her beloved pet behind. The trolls in our group consist of some of the most troublesome--Vriska Serket, Eridan Ampora, and the still mostly mysterious and mute Kurloz Makara. Tavros Nitram and Aradia Megido are also present, but luckily Vriska hasn't tried to antagonize either yet and Aradia seems to be the type too calm to act out aggressively against her anyway. Kanaya followed me into the group and Meulin Leijon Kurloz, but out of all trolls our last member happens to be Horuss Zahhak. He has expressed that since he is the moirail of Meulin he felt that he should come with her rather than his matespirit. However, considering the occasional antagonism he has with Kurloz I believe it is something beyond that. 

The pre-scratch trolls are an interesting and at times inept group, but thankfully since the start of their time here on Earth they have taken time to relearn basic combat skills so as to not be the completely weak points in our units. Meulin has, however, expressed to us that she has never been very good at fighting and so will have to stick with Kurloz. Curiously, none of us besides perhaps Meulin or Horuss has seen the elder Makara in combat or training for it, so we have to rely on her word in that matter. Considering the versatility of his dancestor's fighting style, I highly doubt that he would not be skilled in the use of at least one weapon.

Speaking of Kurloz, I feel that there is something off about him. He was on the sidelines during the final battle and wasn't working against us, but the rare visions I've had that have involved him have all portrayed him in a rather... negative light. It should also be noted that his post-scratch self was a rather violent individual, and while that does not always indicate that their predescessor will be of a similar temperment it is a strong indicator of certain shared personality traits and likely actions. Gamzee was very hard to deal with on a mental and physical level, and though Kurloz is--obviously--much quieter and supposedly calmer not all things are as they always appear.

The presence of Tavros is actually perhaps the most problematic. He gets along very well with Aradia--she has told me that they used to be teammates in a sort of live action role-playing game before his previous disability and her original death--but John has become... a little competitive almost with the troll boy for the attention of Vriska Serket. They've been this way for a while, but due to their forced cohabitation their minor rivalry has escalated. Vriska has been surprisingly unaware of this dilemma--or she is very good at hiding her opinions about the subject, which considering her previous obvious showings of her emotions is most likely not the case. Horuss has also been very careful to avoid any interaction with the orange-blooded troll, suggesting that he is either not comfortable with him due to Tavros himself or due to his similarities to Rufioh. My suspicions about the latter have been strengthened with continued hints from Meulin that "their ship is sinking". 

I should log out of this now. My shift is coming up soon, and Vriska is always very impatient to change places with me. Needless to say, when most of the post-scrath trolls are not given plenty of time to sleep in their off and on manner--due to a lack of recooperacoons and sopor slime, as the troll population on this new planet lack nightmares much like the Beforians--they are much harder to deal with than on a regular basis, so keeping a very aggressive female troll from her "beauty sleep" would be a very bad decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this has taken so long! I've finally started plotting out some later parts of the story, so it should be easier to keep up and write at a decent rate. Also, if anyone knows how to color the text for pesterlogs I'd be very grateful if they left me a message or comment of some sort detailing how to do so. That's it for now!


	3. Chapter 2: Group Memo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat opens a memo as a means of communication between the designated "leaders" of each of the three groups. Instead, he ends up having to deal with more of the usual crap that appears in his memos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long gap again! I've gotten the third chapter written, but recent events in the comic have caused a bit of confusion in the layout of the plot and I'm trying to get that fixed. School has also been a little stressful recently, so that has had some effect also. I'll still do my best to get it up sooner than last time!

CURRENT carcinoGeneticist [CCG] at 2012/08/05 @ 14:47:07 EDT opened memo on board HOW NOT TO GET YOURSELVES KILLED.  
CCG: OKAY, WHAT IS THE STATUS REPORTS OF THE OTHER TWO GROUPS?  
CCG: AS IT IS RIGHT NOW, OUR ONLY ISSUES HAVE BEEN KANKRI NEVER SHUTTING UP, SOLLUX BEING AN ASSHOLE AGAIN, AND CRONUS ATTEMPTING TO HIT ON FEFERI AND INSTEAD EARNING AT LEAST ONE NEW THREE-PRONGED STAB WOUND.   
CCG: THANK GOD NOTHING'S FOUND US YET CONSIDERING THE NEVERENDING NOISE. I KIND OF WISH IT WOULD THOUGH SO IT CAN PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY.  
CURRENT ectoBiologist [CEB] responded to memo.  
CEB: hey karkat!  
CEB: we're doing pretty good, besides some of the trolls having problems sleeping. vriska's probably gotten the worst of it though.  
PAST arachnidsGrip [PAG] 2 HOURS AGO responded to memo.  
PAG: Indeed that's the case.  
PAG: Though it'd 8e much 8etter if I didn't get woken up at 8 pm every night 8ecause certain people are arguing again a8out 8ullshit.  
CEB: sorry!  
CEB: it's just that tavros seems to like not listening to me, despite me being the leader of the group and so we tend to end up disagreeing.  
FUTURE adiosToreador [FAT] 2 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FAT: yOU'RE THE ONE, sTARTING ARGUMENTS WITH ME,  
FAT: fOR NO REASON,  
FAT: aND IT'S NOT BECAUSE YOU'RE THE LEADER OF THE GROUP,  
FAT: sINCE I'D ACTUALLY HATE, uH, tO BE THE LEADER,  
FAT: aND I HAVEN'T DISAGREED WITH YOUR LEADER COMMANDS,  
CEB: then why didn't you agree to go on watch early that one night when vriska and i went patrolling?  
FAT: bECAUSE WE BOTH KNOW WHAT THE REAL REASON FOR IT, uH, wAS,  
FAT: pLUS YOU LIKE TO TELL ME, tO DO USELESS STUFF SO YOU CAN BE ALONE WITH VRISKA,  
FAT: aND SOMETIMES EVEN MOCK ME FOR NOT HAVING ANY BREATHY THINGS,  
CEB: well, that is kind of sad. it's really easy to do!  
CEB: and i'll admit that i put you on more as a guard is because your animal whisperer thing is really useful on watch! it's just a coincidence that vriska and i happen to go on patrol often at the same time.  
FAT: sTOP LYING,  
FAT: yOU'RE EVEN WORSE THAN I AM,  
FAT: wHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING,  
CCG: OH MY GOD, CAN YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP?  
PAG: I agree, this is pathetic to watch.   
PAG: Tavros, John is my friend too and sometimes we like to have some time away from every8ody else.   
PAG: John, you know that Tavros isn't that strong, so I think he's trying to say in a "confident" manner that he is too weak to 8e on watch all the time, so put him on less if he's compl8ining!  
CEB: uhh, sure?  
FAT: i THINK, yOU DON'T GET IT VRISKA,,,  
CCG: OH MY GOD JUST SHUT UP ALREADY. ALL I WANTED WAS A REPORT FROM EGBERT AND INSTEAD I GOT A WHOLE TON OF USELESS DRAMATIC SHIT.  
CCG: TAVROS, YOU CAN GO SORT OUT YOUR WHOLE ORDEAL WITH EGDERP LATER.  
CCG banned FAT from responding to memo.  
CCG: VRISKA, YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO EVEN BE HERE, SO I'M BANNING YOU TOO.  
CCG banned PAG from responding to memo.  
CCG: ANYTHING ELSE OF ACTUAL IMPORTANCE EGBERT?  
CEB: i don't think so! we've only seen a few undead wandering around and we were easily able to pick them off, so we're still secure.  
CCG: GREAT. NOW FUCKING SHOO.  
CCG banned CEB from responding to memo.  
CCG: ANYONE ELSE WANT TO GIVE A STATUS REPORT WITHOUT GOING NOOK DEEP INTO ROMANTIC EXCRETIONS?  
CURRENT timataeusTestified [CTT] responded to memo.  
CTT: Nothing new. Our Megido's been trying to pull her usual language shit, but between myself and Nitram she hasn't been able to fool any of the less knowledgeable members of our small group into thinking that 'あなたが服を脱いでいるときに私はあなたが好き。' means 'I like your clothes'.   
CTT: We have also had no sightings in the last couple of days, so either everyone has been turned and starved or there's some people hiding out in the area. We are going to send out a couple of patrols in a few hours to make a sweep of the area so we can confirm one or the other.   
CCG: GOOD. ANYTHING ELSE?  
CCG: NO? GOOD. COME BACK FOR THE NEXT REPORT IN THREE DAYS.  
CCG: MEMO FUCKING OVER.  
CCG closed memo.


	4. Chapter 3: Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade and Jake go on a patrol, and find something they were not quite expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I am actually posting stuff for this again. Amazing, right? (I am so sorry.) Anyway, I basically realized that I liked writing this and since my original work is still being very much planned and not so much written, I figured this would be a good one to at least update with the last thing that I had written up long ago, and perhaps actually start writing more for it again. So here y'all go!

"So, where should we go first young lady?" Jake turns to look at you, bucktoothed grin spread wide. "After all, we haven't had the time to peruse some of the excellent shops in the area nor spend any quality time getting to know each other!"

  
"True," you say, "except we did get to hang out together before the infection!" Your grin matches his own. "Wasn't that fun? Especially since we were only kids when our other selves even spent time with us. I think I like you better than Grandpa Harley and his intimidating standing before the fireplace thing. My other self didn't do anything too weird, right?"

  
"Hmm, I can't say so. Grandma English mostly worked a lot, but she did have a great love for dogs!" He briefly scratches at your ears, which causes them to twitch and you to giggle at the ticklish sensation. "Now, we ought to depart before Mr. Strider over there hastens our search forcefully." You both turn slightly to glance behind you, where you can see Dirk staring straight-faced at the two of you as you are the only ones in the patrols who haven't yet left. Jake gives the other young man his characteristic double-pistols-and-a-wink, while you simply wave. Despite his superficial similarities to Dave, you don't really know him all that well and would rather stick to something simple and not potentially offensive--not that he'd ever show it.

  
You lower your hand and loop your arm under Jake's, looking down at him slightly as you tug him a little forward. "Let us depart then, dear sir! We have naught a moment to lose!" The odd lingo slightly stutters off your tongue, but you get a wider smile and an enthusiastic tug from him as he replies affirmatively and the two of you leave, the slight breeze tugging at the tips of your ears and recently acquisitioned rifle thumping against your back and over your braided hair, courtesy of an enthusiastic Nepeta and helpful Aranea.

  
For a couple of minutes Jake and you make small talk, with you occasionally poking fun at his odd speaking mannerisms and him poking right back at your ears, while the two of you make it farther away from your group's current base and into the uncharted areas of the devastated city you're in. You're glad that you are not wearing your god tier outfit today, as despite how comfortable it is the fabric isn't that thick and the breeze is stronger and a bit chillier than normal. Instead, you're in one of your old long skirts, which has been remade to be thicker, and your winter jacket you had made on your planet. Other than a vest Jake is wearing what he usually does though.

  
Around the time the two of you reach a costume shop Jake stops talking, standing still and carefully surveying the area around you. You hadn't even picked up on anything previously, but now that your attention is no longer on your conversation but rather on your environment the unnatural complete lack of noise puts you on edge. You want to talk and help fill the silence out of habit, but you've since learned that when there are not even animals making noises something is very wrong. You consider your options at the moment, with nothing abnormal in sight yet--the local undead perished after having to resort to consuming any animals in the area, some survivors are camped out here and being absolutely silent in fear of labeling themselves as prey, or something is watching and planning an ambush. In the last instance you and Jake could get away rather quickly, due to your ability to manipulate space and fly and being able to send Jake to safety while you make quick work gliding out of the area, but due to your duty of searching for survivors you can't do so until the last possible second in case there are other people you could save. However, you can't determine that until you can tell what is going on, and for that you need some-

  
_Click_. You glance over at Jake to see if he's loaded one of his pistols, but both still are in a state indicating that their barrels have not been slid back in order to prepare to fire at a target. Your rifle is still secured to your back--it's only there in the case that you have to protect survivors against a horde, as your spacial abilities are more fit for defensive rather than offensive behaviors--so it wasn't that either. Yet that was most certainly the faint sound of someone preparing to fire a gun, probably one of a smaller size. If it wasn't the two of you, then where did it come from?

  
You notice the sound of glass partially shattering before Jake does, and whirl around with hands out in front of you in time to see a young woman holding a handgun pointing at you. You quickly assume and act, not being able to see the projectile but sensing its movement through space in front of you slow faster and faster, until the object is floating between your hands, feet away from your chest. In the very small timeframe this covered, Jake has caught on to what has most likely occurred and aimed his guns at the female staring at the two of you through the glass with a very shocked expression on her face, which only increases when you transport her--and not her weapon--to stand in front of you with a flash of green light.

  
"Oh- oh my god. Oh my god. You two are human? You're human!" She looks down at her hands and then behind her into the store, where her gun is laying in a pile of glass. "I-I thought you were newly turned zombies, but then I fired and I could tell you weren't, and how the _hell_ did you stop a bullet and do that other thing, and- and-" She's cut off by Jake slightly jabbing a gun at her ribs, which prompts her to raise her arms above her head but doesn't dissolve the rapidly forming expression of relief on her face. "Really sorry about that, killing someone would've made me outright miserable and I didn't mean it, it's just that the last time I've seen an actual intact human face was at least two weeks ago since where I was from was one of the first areas to be hit by the virus and since then I've had so many close encounters with zombie mobs and other days where the only thing to hear was me breathing and the wind mockingly whistling past my shelter and I really hope there's more of you around because damn it I never really liked being social much but after being alone for _weeks_ fearing for your life you begin to want to talk-"

  
"You are quite the garrulous young lady, aren't you?" Jake dropped the barrel of his gun just slightly, pointing at her feet rather than at her torso. While she had been spouting words you had relaxed slightly too, ears still alert for any other noise as you started to not pay attention to her as much but otherwise letting your muscles start to loosen up.

  
The woman blushed, ducking her head down slightly in what could be assumed to be embarrassment. "I'm sorry! Usually I don't babble so much, but when I saw that you two were alive and not randomly wandering dead, I just-" Her eyes widened into two large circles as a hand pierces through her. Jake takes immediate action and fires at the undead. It drops limply to the ground in a pile of rotting flesh and groans but the woman's fate is sealed, blood leaking out through the large hole punched through her stomach. She tries to speak, bringing up only deep red blood, and her knees hit the concrete before the rest of her does.

  
The rest of the horde is upon the two of you who are remaining quickly. You have to decide quickly between sending Jake back first and leaving the woman to bleed to death and be eaten, or sending a potentially infected person back to your base and risk your relative being bitten. Jake answers for you, his shouted words briefly covering the sound of the moans of several of the undead, and you whisk the woman away with your right hand and hit a zombie approaching from behind you with the butt end of your rifle with your left. You quickly fire a round through its head and of the one behind it, and quickly feel for the spacial presence of Jake nearby.

  
You've almost got a strong grip on where he is when he utters a strongly worded curse, shots ringing loudly as you whip around and fire at the thing that took him by surprise from behind. You then pull him out of the area, darting up into the air as you can feel his presence blink out and back into the area you know to be your group's current base. You take a few more moments to headshot some of the growing horde, then manipulate the space around you and disappear, fears gaining as you realize what had happened to Jake. You dearly, dearly hope that you don't have to lose the other version of your grandfather again so soon after you had to help end the life of the last.


End file.
